


Literature Club of the Dead (Yuri version)

by CplCorgi



Series: Literature Club of the Dead [4]
Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Gen, Nakamaship, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2019-10-17 19:32:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17566625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CplCorgi/pseuds/CplCorgi
Summary: It's the day after the festival, and it seems all is well for the members of the Literature Club. That is, until the Zombie Apocalypse begins.The Literature Club has an idea of where they can go to be safe. The only trouble is that there's dozens of miles and thousands of zombies between them and there. But hey! It's just like a road trip with friends, right? Traveling countless miles, going on adventures in zombie-infested buildings together, sleeping with one eye open, wondering if you'll live to see dawn...There's four versions of this fic. The difference being which Doki MC wound up together with. I might have to abandon this feature if it turns out to be too labor intensive, though. I've also formatted the text in a way that's reminiscent of the way a visual novel would be formatted, so that's why everything seems to get its own paragraph.





	1. Flashpoint

It’s the day after the festival.

I’m still a little worn out from walking the festival with Yuri. Especially that DDR duel we got into, but the thought of coming back to the Literature Club and seeing Yuri again is enough to keep me going.

I pull myself out of bed, take a quick shower, shovel a granola bar down my throat and head out my front door. Already, I can see Sayori waiting for me.

“Good morning, MC~” Sayori says, smiling that innocent smile of hers as if she didn’t just call me ‘MC’.

“Oh come on, Sayori!” I say, beginning to walk towards the school. “I write just one less-than-stellar rap as my poem, and now even you won’t stop calling me MC!”

Despite my protests, Sayori just giggles. I swear, she’s enjoying this little joke just as much as the others. But when she speaks again, she says something I wasn’t ready for.

“Ehehe~ The other girls might be making fun of you, but do you know why I call you ‘MC’?” she asks.

“Because you’re in on the joke?” I say.

Sayori pouts. “Oh come on MC! Give me more credit than that!” And then she was right back to smiling. “I call you ‘MC’ because I’m sure that you could be an awesome rapper someday, if you just put your mind to it!”

“Heh… Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, Sayori.” I say. Of course, I’m not all that passionate about becoming a rapper, but I’m not about to shut Sayori down when she’s trying to be supportive.

We keep on walking, only making a little more small talk on the way before we reach the front gates of the school and part ways.

The school day passes, but through the doldrum and monotony, I can tell that something isn’t quite right. When I got to the lunchroom, the guy I usually wind up sitting next to… Daichi was his name, I think. He wasn’t acting like himself at all. Usually, he would talk up a storm with anyone else nearby and treat us to his endless reserve of puns. I don’t really know the guy, but he usually made me smile at least once a day.

But today? He barely responded to anything. All he did was groan a few times, clutch his head and glare at anyone who engaged him for too long. He wolfed down his lunch like a madman, though. As if he’d gone hungry so long that he’d forgotten what chewing felt like. Daichi isn’t the only one acting strange either. A solid half of the student body is worryingly unresponsive. I really hope none of the Literature Club has the bug.

The day carries on, even more dead than usual. History class comes, and I tune out right when the teacher starts to discuss the formation of the United Prefectures of Japamerica. Yes, yes. FDR and Hirohito had a political marriage and our great nation was formed. Just don’t make me think about the honeymoon.

While I’m tuned out, I begin to think of the literature club, of Yuri, of what’s going on in my animes right now, and then it occurs to me. I haven’t heard any kind of government advisory about the bug going around. Nobody’s confirmed if it’s the flu, mad cow disease, a collective panic attack, or anything. I haven't even heard if the government was investigating or not. I ask around, and even the students who are lucid enough to talk are as clueless as I am. It’s like this illness just materialized this morning.

Hell… maybe I have it. Can’t tell if I’m sick or just so bored by the banality of my classes that I’m falling asleep. After what felt like a week of monotony and worrying about catching the bug, it’s finally time to go to the literature club. Thank God.

I walk up in that club, and the usual scene greets me. Natsuki’s off in the corner with her manga, Yuri’s at her desk with her horror novel, and Monika and Sayori are up at the front of the classroom with their conversations.

I take a seat at the desk next to Yuri. She glances over at me, but doesn’t protest. In fact, I see a smile grow on her face

“Sup, Yuri?” I say, scooching in a little closer.

“Oh, hello MC.” She responds, without any hint of her usual shyness. After all the experiences we’ve shared over the past week, I’m guessing she finally feels comfortable with me.

The two of us assume our reading position, but after a few minutes, it becomes clear that the two of us have far too much we want to talk about to focus on Markov or his portrait.

“You’re not still mad at me about that whole banana peel sniping thing, are you?” I ask, the memory of Yuri’s reaction to going from 1st to 7th in the last lap of Mario Kart fresh in my memory.

“Oh! No…” Yuri says, her cheeks reddening. “I do apologize for that outburst, though.”

“Hey. Mario Kart’s a ruthless game, Yuri.” I say. “In fact, I probably would have been even worse in your shoes.”

“Yes, but…” Yuri’s cheeks go even redder. “The way everyone stared at me. I don’t think I can show my face around them again.”

I put my hand on Yuri’s shoulder and look her in the eye. “C’mon Yuri. I watched them. They glanced in your direction and went right back to what they’re doing. I doubt any of them even remember by now.”

Yuri finds the strength to meet my eyes, and I can see my words starting to sink in on her face.

“...Promise?”

“I promise. Even I forgot until you brought it back up.” I say. Gradually, Yuri seems to coax herself out of whatever self-critical tear her mind had gone on before I spoke up.

“I… I did quite enjoy myself yesterday, MC…” Yuri says, even daring to let herself smile. “Thank you… for sharing it with me.”

I smile and put a hand on Yuri’s shoulder. “I had a great time too. Let’s do something like that again some time, eh?”

Yuri lowers her head, I suspect she’s trying to hide a blush behind her hair. “Yes. That sounds wonderful...” Her head snaps back up. The expression on her face makes me wonder if she left the oven on back home. “Once this illness that seems to be going around has subsided, that is.”

“Whoa. Yeah, good call.” I say. I’d gotten so wrapped up in Yuri’s presence that I’d forgotten all about the bug. “Speaking of, what’s your take on all this?”

Yuri sighs and holds one arm in the other. “I’ve a feeling that this is a portent of something truly terrible…”

We never left our reading position, so it’s quite easy for me to put an arm around Yuri and pull her close. “Yuri… Remember what I said about your mind turning small things into big, horrible things?”

Yuri says nothing, but gives me a look that says she’s listening.

“It’s probably just a particularly nasty flu. Just give it a few days, and if things get worse, then you start worrying, alright?”

Yuri puts her head on my shoulder. I wasn’t expecting that, but I’m not about to stop her.  
“Alright. I’ll trust you, MC…” she says, almost whispering. The moment is so tender and warm that I can ignore the fact that she called me MC.

I hear Natsuki huffing with annoyance behind me. Whatever. Why should I care what she thinks? She’s like someone in a restaurant getting annoyed at me eating Tuna when she personally dislikes Tuna.

After a few blissful seconds, Monika cuts it short.

“Okay, everyone! It’s time to share p-”

**[SLAM]**

Someone throws the door to the classroom open, and everyone stops dead in their tracks when they hear the noise.

We all see a male student standing in the doorway, his posture limp. His glazed over, grey eyes stare into nothing. It looks like he tried to rip his collar off, but forgot what buttons were and just clawed it off with his fingernails. For a few heavy seconds, he just stands there, muttering gibberish to himself.

Monika is the first to break the silence. “Ahaha… Can we help you?” she says, glancing over to us with a highly uncomfortable smile.

While everyone else looks a little weirded out by the stranger’s behavior, there’s something different about Yuri’s expression. It looks more like outright fear. As if she recognized this guy for all the wrong reasons.

“Yuri? You okay?” I ask.

“I hoped he would never find me here…” She says, grasping one of her wrists as she tunnel visions on the intruder.

Oh, I don’t like the implications of that one bit…

Especially considering that look in his eyes. Like he’s one harsh word from ripping someone’s throat out with his teeth.

“Toxic ex?” I venture, keeping myself talking to try and hold my nerves together.

“Wha-? Certainly not!” Yuri says, perhaps a bit louder than she’d meant to. The student in question briefly looks in Yuri’s direction with a startled noise, but quickly refocused on Monika.

At least that got her looking at me, rather than the guy who’s been giving her trouble.

“No. He’s… made a habit of seeking me out as I read and…” Yuri trails off and shakes her head. I fear the worst, but maybe she’s just struggling to find the right phrasing.

“He gives you shit?” I ask.

“That’s an apt summary, yes.” She says. “Mockery, attempts at snatching my book, threats to spread rumors…”

I’ve heard enough.

“Yo. Asshole. The fourth grade classroom is that way.” I snap at the gurgling, limp-postured student. No response.

As this goes on, the strange student seems more and more agitated. His quiet mumbling turns into a throaty moan of anger. Kind of like someone trying to gargle while doing a death metal growl.

Natsuki gets about halfway through asking “What the hell is your problem?” before the student lunges at Monika. Whatever’s wrong with him, I just know in the pit of my stomach that he’s going to try and kill her.


	2. Escalation, Improvisation

The dull-eyed student has Monika pressed against the teacher’s desk. He’s taking these wide, uncoordinated swings at her. Still making those gut-churning, throaty noises that no human being in their right mind would make.

Once the shock wears off, I run over to try and pry the guy off of Monika. All the while I wonder just what the hell this guy wants. If he had a score to settle with Monika, he’d have said something. If he just wanted her body, that would be obvious by now. Whatever his motivation, he’s proving incredibly difficult to grapple. It’s like he doesn’t even realize I’m there.

“MC, get clear!” Natsuki shouts. I was about to ask why, but when I look towards her to do so I answer my own question.

Or rather, the folding chair that Natsuki’s bringing down on the guy’s head does.

Chair and skull make contact with a crunching _[THWACK]_ that makes my stomach turn. The student crumples to the floor, but despite taking a blow that would have knocked anyone cold and left many comatose, he just gets right back up.

The student seems to be having even more trouble keeping his head up after the blow to the base of his skull, but he still manages to glare at Natsuki. And he’s not letting up with that throaty growl either.

This prompts Yuri to stand up and pull a grisly looking knife out of her bag. “You’ll stop this _at once_ , Shiro. Lest you give me reason to finally-”

“Shiro’s” eyes snap towards Yuri, and in an instant he’s upon her. They struggle for a moment, Shiro’s wild, maddened brute force against Yuri’s graceful, nimble dodges and precise placement of knife wounds. 

She practically dances around Shiro, knicking him with wounds that each bleed much more than you’d expect. Put them all together, and I begin to wonder how Shiro is still standing after all of that blood loss.

And what the hell is driving him to fight so furiously, for that matter.

By the time Yuri finally goes to cut Shiro’s throat, his blood has hit the classroom floor in amounts I fear might never be fully cleansed. Even still, Shiro throws punches for longer than he has any right to before finally collapsing.

The air hangs heavy for a moment, the four of us staring in slack-jawed disbelief as Yuri calmly wipes the blood from her knife and places it back in her bag. Almost as if she didn’t process what she’d just done.

Doing her best not to contemplate Shiro’s crumpled form, Sayori runs over to Monika to check her injuries.

I take a closer look at Yuri, and as I approach, I notice that her composure isn’t quite as calm as first appearances made it seem. Now I can see that she’s shaking. Her entire body overtaken by intermittent trembles.

“Yuri?...” I place a hand on her shoulder. She doesn’t move, but I can feel her muscles relax, just a little, under my palm.

“I… Can’t believe what I’ve just done.” She says.

“Truth be told, neither can I.” I say. It still blows me away just how graceful that all was.

“I’m a monster…” Yuri says, eyes welded to the floor.

“If you’re a monster, then what was he?” I say, gesturing to Shiro’s unmoving body. “Giving you crap for no reason, then just doing… whatever he was trying to do to Monika.”

Yuri’s eyes meet mine. She’s listening, but it doesn’t seem like my words are getting through to her.

“Besides. You warned him. He saw the knife and attacked you anyway!” I say, sliding my hand down Yuri’s arm and taking both her hands in mine. “I promise. You’re not a monster. If anything, he was.”

Yuri meets my eyes, too shaken to even blush at my sudden affectionate gesture. I almost continue when she shakes her head, but Yuri speaks first. “That’s not the problem, MC…”

Part of me wants to protest being called ‘MC’, but I can tell this is a far pressing matter. Before I can ask her to explain, Yuri sighs and her pained eyes meet mine again.

“I was too good at it. I...I ’ve never killed, yet it all came so intuitively! As if there was a dreadful beast within me just waiting to be uncaged!” I can see the beginnings of tears in her eyes. “What kind of monster can just kill so easily?”

The pain in Yuri’s gaze turns to pleading. She searches my expression for some kind of answer. Any answer. My line of reasoning about Shiro being the one at fault isn’t going to answer a question like this.

But how do you even begin to answer a question like that anyway?

“Hey. Sorry to break up the tender little moment and everything.” Natsuki’s voice cuts right through both of us. “But can we talk about the fact that Yuri just, y’know, killed somebody?”

“Ahaha… That is pretty serious…” Monika says, with a humorless chuckle. By now Sayori had taken a look at the scratches and bruises that Shiro had left on Monika, and seen that they weren’t anything that needed treatment.

But you wouldn’t know that by looking at Sayori’s expression. You’d think Monika had seconds to live if you went by that.

“Guys?” Sayori begins, sounding almost like she was about to cry. “I think we might have a bigger problem than that.”

“What? I’m fine, right?” Monika asks.

Sayori shakes her head. “You’re okay. That’s not what I’m worried about.” She stops, looks at Shiro’s body, then at all of us. “This guy. Shiro… He had the bug that half the school had.”

You can see the realization dawning on everyone in the room just by looking at their faces. Monika’s horror at the idea is clear just from looking at her. Yuri’s face switches between relief and dread. Sayori just solemnly nods. Natsuki, however, almost looks like she takes offense to the notion.

“Hold on. You’re not trying to tell me that this little flu outbreak is the first day of the-”

Three more, looking just as feral as Shiro, slam themselves against the classroom door.

“Zombie… apocalypse.” Natsuki trails off as her attempt at denial crumbles before her.

For a moment I’m thankful that someone took the time to close the door after the whole Shiro debacle, but then I spot it. Oh, fuck me. One of the zombies is the _principal!_

“What do we do?” Natsuki asks, turning her gaze to Monika. The club president’s eyes lock on the window of the classroom door. I can see her trying to keep her composure well enough to make a decision.

“What do we _do!?_ ” Natsuki insists.

“Well we’re not staying here, that’s for god damn sure!” Monika snaps back. “Since you’re so damn eager for an answer, care to suggest _where?_ ”

Yuri, of all people, cuts into the rising argument. “We’ll head for my house.”

I think I see why she’s making that suggestion. She did mention her knife hobby when she was over. So if any one of us is ready to wait out the storm, it’s her.

“It’s as good a plan as any” I say. Perhaps it’s best not to let on that I know why Yuri made the suggestion.

“Okay everyone…” Monika says, seeming to remember that she’s supposed to be club president here. “Let’s get moving while that door’s still on it’s hinges…”

 _“Unarmed?”_ Natsuki asks, eyebrow raised.

Monika gestures to the folding chair that has a fresh dent in it.

“Well yeah, Yuri and I are armed, but what about everyone else?” Natsuki says.

At that, Yuri reaches back into her bag and hands me another knife.

Geez. How many of those does she carry?

After giving it a look over, I offer it to Sayori, but she shakes her head.

“I hate violence. You’ll have the heart to actually use it.” She says.

“I can’t leave you defenseless, Sayori!” I protest.

“I’m not defenseless.” Sayori says, smiling that cancer-curing smile of hers. “I have you guys!~”

Natsuki opens her mouth to protest, but then the principal’s loose fist finally manages to shatter the glass on the door.

“Ah dammit, get moving!” Monika shouts. “I’ll grab something to protect myself on the way!”

Monika throws the _other_ classroom door open and we all book it. I don’t think I’ve ever sprinted quite as hard as this in my life. 

On the way to the stairwell, we pass a few more of the infected, but I notice that not all of them are running after us. Some of them are shambling instead. Maybe we won’t have to worry about _all_ of them. I just hope the runners aren’t coordinated enough to follow us down the stairs.

Even I’m surprised by how quickly we manage to reach the stairwell. If I’d made it through the halls this quickly any other day, I’d never have to worry about being late for class again.

Before we can make it to the stairs, a mass of panicked students rushes past us. One of the running infectees and at least a dozen shamblers are hot on their tail. I see the runner faceplant and crumple violently down the stairs like a sack of dried bone, but then it gets right back up; hobbling on a visibly broken leg.

A second later another runner slams its entire body into me. I feel it’s teeth graze my neck before I shove it back with my elbow. It’s right back on me in a second, but at least now I’ve got my face to it. 

Before I can do much fighting, Yuri jumps in and cuts its throat before jamming her knife in the runner’s spine and twisting. The goddamn thing is still thrashing, but apparently can’t do much after having so many nerves severed. I’ll keep that in mind as we run.

The crowd‘s cleared by now, and the five of us take the stairs three steps at a time. But even that isn’t fast enough to reach the infected that had some poor girl pinned to the wall. By the time Monika puts it in a chokehold, it’s already bitten a gash out of the other girl’s arm and puked in it. That puking thing looked pretty deliberate.

I just barely manage to keep my own bile inside me. Needless to say, the rest of us grab the infectee and toss him down the stairs. I’m pretty sure all of us made a point of kicking him in the head as we made our way to the ground floor.

When we head down the ground floor halls and finally reach the front doors, we find that our biggest obstacle isn’t the infected, but our fellow students. Some absolute scumfuck has gotten it in his head to chain shut all but two of the doors.

“Two bucks and fifty yen per person!” He shouts. 

He’s got two pretty muscular looking cronies at each of his sides. The most shocking thing about this? People are _actually paying him!_ Some people rummage through their bags, others plead for the money needed for their passage. I think they call this the “Bystander effect”? “Mob Mentality”?

Whatever the name is, Natsuki is clearly having precisely none of that shit. She marches right up to this scumfuck huckster, the crowd parting around her like she’s a tiny, pissed off, pink haired Moses.

Without missing a beat, Natsuki raises her mighty folding chair and brings it right down on the guy’s skull, using the narrow part of it at that. The wet **[CRACK]** echoes through the entire room. Even scumfuck’s bodyguards are too shocked to do anything.

“Keep the change.” She spits at scumfuck’s bleeding, concussed form. 

Yuri must have spotted the danger that Natsuki had put herself into, because she ran to back her up. With a brandish of her knife’s business end, the two bodyguards immediately open the doors to let Natsuki and Yuri through.

The rest of the crowd is quick to follow them. Some simply run for the hills, a few stop to thank or congratulate the two for ending that guy’s little get rich quick scheme. The rest of us are quick to rejoin them. The great throng of humanity is dispersed, we’re back together, but there’s still an entire school filled with… can I really call them “zombies”? Behind us.

“Alright, Yuri.” Monika says, catching her breath. “Lead the way.”

With a wordless nod, Yuri takes to the front of the group; her knife out and at the ready all the while. 

Looking at her face, I can see that something’s changed about her demeanour. Neither the timid bookworm I’ve come to know and love, nor the shaken girl who’d convinced herself that she was a monster show themselves as we make our way through the chaotic streets. All I see now is the fierce, confident young woman that stood and recited her poem to the classroom yesterday. And now that same woman is on a mission. No, a _crusade_ to shepherd her friends to safety. No matter how many maddened berserkers she has to rip and tear through.

Of course, Natsuki is also racking up a formidable score with her folding chair, Monika joins in with a discarded section of pipe, and even I manage to score a kill or two, but there’s something about Yuri’s ferocity, and her paradoxical _grace_ amongst the fury that captivates me.

I think I know how to answer the question she asked me in the classroom now. That’s going to have to wait until we make it to safety, though.

But what if we _don’t_? Can I let either of us die with the words in my heart unspoken? I’d better say what I need to sooner, rather than later.

By the time we reach Yuri’s house, the setting sun is almost covered by the smoke of burning buildings to the west. The usual walk home has been transformed into a gauntlet of ravening infected, terror-struck survivors doing _anything_ they can to survive, speeding road traffic that nearly took Monika’s head clean off, and the burning wrecks of vehicles that have already crashed; a few of them with freshly turned infected at the wheel.

As Yuri unlocks the front door of her home, the rest of us waste no time piling in and finding the first available seat to collapse on. Anything for a chance to catch our breath. When Yuri and I push a cabinet in front of the front door, _then_ I manage to relax.

“So Yuri, why did you suggest we come to _your_ house?” Sayori asks the question that was likely on everyone’s mind. The silence on Yuri’s end is deafening, or was it how loudly Yuri was blushing?

The entire rest of the literature club shoots me various looks. Sayori looks like she’s trying to put on a smile for me, Monika has this coy grin on her face, and Natsuki is looking between Yuri and I with a look of sheer disgust.

When Yuri looks up from underneath her bangs and sees what got into everyone’s head, that blush somehow manages to get louder and redder.

“A-Ah! That’s not- I had _no intention_ of-” I can see Yuri’s mind spinning its tires in the mud; trying to admit to the truthful embarrassing thing so she can dispel the untrue but more embarrassing assumption. Eventually she just sighs and motions for us to follow her to her bedroom.

As we ascend the stairs, a joke about taking all of us at once comes to mind, but I bite my tongue. A few steps down the hallway later, the lot of us are beginning to crowd Yuri’s rather tidy room. The only thing neater than Yuri’s impeccably made bed, or the pristine surface of her writing desk, has to be the glass cases in which Yuri keeps a dazzling array of knives.

While I’m not surprised by this revelation, Natsuki and Sayori clearly are.

“Geez, what do you _need_ all of these for?” Natsuki says.

Sayori just stares at one of the cases with dumbstruck anxiety.

“Ahaha… I always wondered where you kept all of these things, Yuri.” Monika says, doing her best to mask her discomfort.

I, for one, look over the display cases with a casual interest. It’s not much, but seeing that I’m not freaked out seems to be a massive source of comfort to Yuri. At least _someone_ isn’t judging her.

Yuri turns her back to us and approaches a Nightwish poster on her wall. I watch her poke it in what looks like a deliberate, complex sequence, and the section of wall that it’s on sinks in and slides to the right. When I get an eyeful of what’s on the other side, I learn that “a knife collection” was the wrong term for what Yuri has.

Try “a fucking arsenal”.

Besides some bigger bladed instruments, Yuri’s also got… I think that one rapper said “Like seven MAC 11s, about eight .38s nine 9s, ten MAC 10s, the shits never end!” Of course, I don’t know what any of those are besides “guns”, but the shits really don’t ever end in this room.

Seriously. She could arm the entire city block with this collection!

Before I can reclaim my jaw from the floor, Yuri speaks.

“I believe this answers your question, Sayori?” she says, her eyes welded to the floor.

“Yeah…” Is all Sayori manages, visibly uncomfortable in the presence of so much weaponry.

“It raises a lot more, though…” Monika says. Once again, Yuri cuts in.

“My parents don’t worry about my hobbies so long as I keep my grades up, yes, this is where most of my disposable income goes, it’s not a matter of need as much as desire, and yes. Everything here was obtained legally.” 

Yuri’s justifications come out with such clarity, such speed, that I get the impression that she’s been defending herself in her head for years now.

“Well, no sense looking a gift horse in the mouth.” I say, hoping once again that this helps to put Yuri at ease. 

Since everyone else seems to be getting more comfortable with the idea of this all, I can see Yuri finally look up from the floor, and even smile. “You’re all welcome to anything here, and to ask me any questions you may have.”

Ah, there’s that confident side again.

“I dunno... “ Natsuki says “I’m getting kind of attached to this folding chair h- oh _hello_ beautiful!”

Natsuki drops the folding chair the moment she sees a rather hefty looking greatsword. I think I recognize the manga that’s from, and I guess Natsuki does too.

Now, what should _I_ arm up with?

“MC…” Yuri taps my shoulder. When I turn around, she just gestures for me to follow her.

For a split second, I wonder if Yuri is trying to catch some alone time with me after all, but that idea is quickly silenced when Yuri just approaches a part of the wall in her armory. She pulls a long, wooden-stocked rifle off the wall and hands it to me.

I take it in my hands, but almost drop it when it proves heftier than I anticipated. I don’t know the specifics of this gun, but with all the little dings and scratches I can just _feel_ history radiate off of it.

“MC, do you know what that is?” Yuri asks.

“Uh… A gun.” I say, honestly not sure what Yuri’s getting at here.

“What you’re holding is an M1 Garand. And not one of those post-marriage Nagoya Arsenal copies either!” Yuri says. Already, I can tell she’s getting into that mindspace that I saw when she gave me feedback on my poems. The one where she’s sharing something that really matters to her with someone.

“That’s a pre-marriage example that still has ‘United States’ markings on it. One that would have really seen action.”

So _that’s_ why it felt like something with history. This gun’s been around since before The Honeymoon! Augh, dammit I thought about it!

“That’s pretty cool, but why are you showing me an antique?” I ask. A more modern gun would punch harder, right?

“Because, MC, a .30-06 bullet will still shred a zombie’s grey matter just as well as it would have 70 years ago. Due to bullet sizes, it may even do a better job than a modern combat rifle.” Yuri says, dazzling me with just how much she knows about this stuff. The knives were one thing, but _guns?_

I wonder where she learned all this for a moment before thinking “Oh yeah, the internet” to myself.

“Now, I believe it’d be proper to teach you how to operate this, yes?” Yuri says.

“Can’t argue with that.” I say. I think video games taught me some of the basics, like how to aim it, but there’s plenty I’m still clueless on.

“I can pull the trigger, and I _think_ I know how to use the sights, but how do I load it?”

“Just a moment...” Yuri makes her way past Monika trying to talk Natsuki into choosing something she might actually be able to carry, then returns with some kind of metal device that’s holding a few dummy bullets together.

“Pull this back” Yuri points to some kind of small handle on the side of the gun, then hands me the clip. “And push this in with the bullets facing the barrel.”

I follow Yuri’s instructions, pulling back what she told me to until it stays in place. I move to push the clip into the gun and

 **[SNAP]**  
“Gah!”

The part of the gun I pulled back slams back into position, trapping my thumb with it. Gah, god dammit mother _fucker_ that hurts!

It doesn’t help that Yuri just laughs when she sees what happened. Did she set me up!?

“Ahaha. Congratulations, MC. You’ve contracted your inaugural case of Garand Thumb.” She says. Her tone softens to the point where she almost sounds like a mother teaching their child how to cook.

“Here...” Yuri presses herself against my back and frees my thumb of the rifle’s merciless jaws. I know this position is just so that I can see what she’s seeing, but this intimacy, that soothing voice...

“The problem is that you didn’t pull the bolt all the way back, and you rested it against the follower.” Yuri pulls the part that I can now identify as the ‘bolt’ back to the position I had it at. “If you rest it against the part that pushes rounds up to where they need to be, then nothing stops the bolt slamming home on your thumb. Now, pull it back just a little more and try again.”

I obey and reinsert the clip. This time, just as she said, I manage to push it in all the way without bleeding all over the gun’s internal bits. Then, with a gentle nudge of the handle, the bolt closes well away from my finger.

“See? No Garand thumb.” Yuri says.

I simply nod, trying to cherish this moment of intimacy for just a little longer. I can tell Yuri doesn’t want to let go either. I find a few more questions to ask to give Yuri an excuse to stay in this position. 

“So, I just pull the trigger until it goes click?” I ask.

“It does a little more than go click, MC.” Yuri says. “Each time you fire a shot, the bolt will go back and chamber a fresh round for you..”

Yuri pulls the bolt back a few times to simulate the gun working. “And then on the final shot…”

The clip flies out of the gun alongside the last shot, and a metallic [PING] sounds through Yuri’s armory.

“And that’s how you know it’s empty!” Yuri says with a grin.

“Huh… Can I hear that one more time?” I say. I didn’t expect that sound at all. It’s actually pretty cool!

“Absolutely!” She says. God, I could just stare at that smile of hers all day. Especially since I think I’m the one who put it there.

After the second ping, Yuri shows me how to mount and unmount the bayonet, a technique to stabilize my arms with the strap and even how to adjust the sights, even though she mentions that she already had it “zeroed in”.

I don’t think I’m even going to retain the stuff about sight adjustment. We’re both just buying a little more time like this. One last moment in that mindspace we shared while reading and exchanging chocolates. Just another minute of bliss before the brewing storm outside reaches us again.

“Yuri… I think I know the answer to your question now. The one about being a monster?” I say.

Before Yuri can even let out the first syllable of her response, Monika’s voice cuts in.

“Hey Yuri. How does this thing work?” Monika says.

God _dammit._

“Just a moment, MC.” Yuri says, but the disappointment in her eyes tells me that she knows the spell is broken.

I rejoin the group, and take a look at how everyone’s loadout is coming along. Natsuki’s holding a rather potent looking revolver and some kind of crossbreed of a shovel and an axe. On the blade, the letters “LOBO” have been etched. Whatever that means.

Sayori is looking down at a compact shotgun; the kind with the two barrels next to each other. The look on Sayori’s face reminds me of an expression she would make when we went trick-or-treating as kids. She’d always have that exact look on her face if she wasn’t happy with the candy the last house gave her.

Yuri’s got a katana sheathed on a belt around her waist, and now she’s explaining something to Monika regarding another rather old-looking rifle. It looks like she’s having trouble opening the part of the gun that I did to load the Garand. While Yuri gets everyone acquainted with how to work their chosen weapons, I simply practice operating my own. I attach and remove the bayonet, load that clip thing that Yuri showed me, and practice pulling the bolt _all the way_ back.

By the time Monika grabs everyone’s attention, I’ve just about got this whole Garand thing on lock.

“Okay everyone! It’s time to…” Monika’s usual confidence wavers in the face of what’s going on outside of these walls. “Time to figure out our next move...”

“Why don’t we just stay here?” I ask, my eyes scanning over the remaining weaponry. “We’ve got everything we need here, don’t we?”

“It’s well stocked, yeah, but it’s also in the middle of a city full of zombies.” Monika says.

“That also makes it a prime target for looters.” Natsuki adds.

“MC was just trying to help.” Sayori protests. I think she might be more upset about their counterpoints than I am.

“Nah, it’s alright Sayori. Somewhere this populated might just get bombed by the army.” I say with a shrug. “In hindsight it was obviously a shit idea.”

“It was logical enough, MC.” Yuri says with a sigh. “Though I’m struggling to think of anywhere better to be. Where is there that we can be well sheltered, well armed _and_ a comfortable distance from the rest of society?”

Both Sayori and Yuri called me “MC” in the midst of a dead serious conversation about how to survive. So y’know what? Fuck it. If they’re _this_ committed to the “MC” joke, I guess I’ll just roll with it.

There’s a look on Sayori’s face. Her dejection immediately erased by the eureka moment I can see on her face.

“I have an uncle.” Sayori starts, before visibly struggling with how to continue that thought.

“That’s nice. Totally irrelevant, but nice.” Natsuki says, earning her a few daggers glared in her direction.

“No! He… He’s been preparing for something like this for years! Lives in the woods in a…” Sayori trails off again. “In a… What did he call it?”

“A compound! He built a whole compound in case this exact thing happened!” Sayori finishes her thought.

“Running water, electricity, everything?” Monika asks, met with Sayori’s enthusiastic nodding.

“He’s even got wifi!~” Sayori says with a grin.

“Well then! That sounds perfect!” Natsuki says. Even she’s smiling now. “And uh… sorry for being all impatient with you, I guess…”

“Any objections?” Monika asks. “No? Then it’s settled. Tomorrow we start heading for wherever Sayori’s uncle lives. Where is that anyway?”

“In the woods, off of this one highway by a stream…” Sayori closes her eyes and circles her fingers on her temples to remember every detail. “Right by mount… Mt. Amagoi!”

Monika nods as she takes the info in. “That’s about 30 miles from here...”

“We don’t have to do it all in one trip.” I say. “As long as we can find safe places to spend the night, we can go at our own pace.”

“True… But for now, we rest up.” Monika points to a window back in the normal part of Yuri’s bedroom. We all see that the sun set a long time ago.

With that, we all begin to settle in for the night. Monika meditates and prepares every bit of research she can think of. Routes to Mt. Amagoi, online survival manuals, you name it. Natsuki sets to making dinner from whatever she can muster in the kitchen. Yuri preps the teapot and sets that aromatherapy device up again. I’ll take any bit of serenity I can get. Sayori’s first instinct is to gather everything she can think of for tending to wounds.

As everyone prepares for the coming storm, one thought dominates my mind.

This is going to be our last night of something resembling normalcy, isn’t it? Our last night with a sturdy roof over our heads, a kitchen full of food, a shower with warm running water. Even our confidence that we’ll live to see tomorrow is soon to be in question.

But I take a look over our little survivor band again. The way everyone finds what they’re good at and does it with all their heart; the way it all seems to synergize. If we can just keep it together, I think we can take whatever the world throws our way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit longer than the first chapter, huh? That's why this took so long to release.
> 
> I'm also excited to announce that a DDLC mod version of this story is now in development! Be on the lookout for Doki Doki Outbreak, which we plan to release in an episodic format for the sake of the project not taking a decade to finish.


	3. Departure

I spend the night lying on some bunched up towels on the living room carpet. But after all the insanity that happened yesterday, it feels like I’m sleeping on the finest mattress this side of Honolulu.

I awaken to the sound of a news broadcast on the living room TV. Right at sunrise. Once I’ve blinked the sleep from my eyes and remembered where I was, I finally begin to hear what the news caster is saying.

“The death toll has now reached an estimated 70,000 and will only increase as the days go by.”

I watch Monika run a hand down the side of her head in disbelief at the death toll. The number makes my heart sink like a rock, but I force myself to keep listening for any useful information.

“Congress has convened an emergency session to vote on a quarantine of the Japanese archipelago prefectures; voting near unanimously in favor.”

“So they’re just _abandoning_ us!” Natsuki exclaims in a whisper. Monika raises her finger for silence, much to Natsuki’s chagrin.

“As we speak, the UP Navy Sixth Fleet is en route to drop supplies to the home islands by air. Including food, clothing and-”

“See? No abandonment.” Monika’s remark makes me miss the end of that sentence.

“Until then, citizens are advised to stay in their homes, conserve all available food and water, and not to open their doors for anyone but government officials.”

Welp, looks like we’re already breaking that rule.

“Research into the cause of the infection is ongoing, but a link has been confirmed with the bile of infected individuals.”

The three of us look at each other; all of us thinking of that poor girl in the stairwell. None of us have to say a word to convey what hindsight has put in our minds.

The arrival of Yuri and Sayori from down the stairs spares us from contemplating her fate too deeply. Thank god.

“Hey, what’s on the news?” Sayori asks, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“Any information that will aid our survival?” Yuri adds. 

Monika sighs. “Lots of people are dead. Japan’s been quarantined. They’ll be air dropping supplies, and don’t get puked on.”

That last remark puts a “well, duh” look on Sayori and Yuri’s faces.

“What she means is… is… you’ll, like, _die_ if you get puked on... By a zombie, that is.” I say. Good lord. That was the verbal version of trying to do a synchronized dance that nobody ever taught you. On stage.

“Monika? Is MC okay?” Sayori asks.

“No, what he just said is true. As crazy as it sounds.” Monika says, clearly _wishing_ that that was just crazy talk.

“As crazy as _he_ sounds…” Natsuki adds.

Yuri shoots Natsuki a glare. I can tell she wants to say something back at her, but I can see Yuri mentally talking herself down from that.

“Alright. The important thing is that it’s time to get moving. If you’ve got any final preparations, now’s the time.” Monika says.

That seems to remind Yuri of something, since she immediately rushes back to her room for some reason. Yuri’s already furnished all of us with ammo, straps and holsters for our respective weapons, so that’s taken care of. We all forgot our backpacks at school, so we’ve all figured out our own ways of carrying our stuff. We have enough food and water between us to last about three days.

Hell. We even know what our first stop is. Yuri mentioned a konbini a few blocks away that will make a good place to rest.

So what did Yuri forget?

Yuri answers that question by coming back downstairs and handing Monika a leather jacket.

“Since you’ve taken charge, I suppose it’s only fair that I give you something that can fend off claws and bites.” Yuri explained.

Monika looks quite pleased with this new piece of protection as she looks it over.

That is, until she sees a 2 foot wide “Female Body Inspector” patch embroidered onto the back.

I’d describe the look Monika’s giving Yuri right now, but every time I try, I laugh too hard to get the words out.

“W-Well! That’s… It’s…”

“I stole it from Shiro!” Yuri finally blurts out.

Much to Yuri’s relief; that explanation seems to satisfy Monika, and she swaps her school blazer out for the leather jacket. She even lets out an “Ooh!” while she discovers more and more pockets on her new coat.

“You guys ready? ‘Cause I’m as ready as can be now!” Monika says. She certainly forgave Shiro’s crass tastes in a heartbeat.

“Lock and load!” Natsuki shouts, pulling back the hammer on her revolver.

“I’ve been waiting for this for years.” Yuri says, loosing her katana with the speed and grace of a samurai.

“We’ll be okay… We’ll be okay…” Sayori repeats to herself.

“Well, we have each other, right? That’s all I really need.” I say. I can tell by everyone’s faces that that came off as more corny than touching, but at least my bumbling raised spirits a little.

“Alright.” Monika says, loading a clip into that old rifle that Yuri gave her. “Konbini, here we come!”

I try and dramatically kick the door open, but quickly notice that it opens inward, so I just wind up standing there with my foot in the air.

“What? Waiting to squish a zombie leprechaun?” Natsuki says. I notice the other three watching me as I stand there; looking like I’m doing some sort of dumbassed crane pose.

“W-Well, I was _going_ to kick the door open, but…” I try to defend myself, but the more I think about it, the more I realize what a stupid idea that was to begin with. 

“So much for being a badass.” I think to myself.

With a defeated sigh, I just open the door like a normal human being.

So much for being a badass indeed...

I look out onto the street and see a dense, shambling _glut_ of infected choking the street in front of Yuri’s house. I don’t think I can see a single inch of pavement. Only her tiny front yard remains free of the crowd. Even then, a few zombies mindlessly wave their arms through the bars of her front gate.

“Father, Son and Amaterasu…” Monika says.

The rest of us just stare at the impenetrable mass before us in disbelief. Not only are we all wondering how exactly we’re supposed to navigate this, but I’m sure we’re all trying not to think about who anyone in this human clot was just 48 hours ago.

“I don’t think we can fight our way through that…” Sayori says. I can see the despair sinking into her expression already. I’d better make sure the conversation doesn’t end there.

“You sure you guys don’t want to just wait things out here?” I ask. Maybe that wasn’t such a terrible plan after all.

Yuri shakes her head “I’m afraid we can’t. Not for long, at least.”

Before I can ask why not, Yuri mimes an aircraft flying past, a bomb falling, and then the kaboom of it going off. Her sound effects even accounted for the doppler effect on the plane and the sound of the bomb not hitting the ears immediately.

Maybe a bit too much detail, but the point was made.

“Right…” I say, kicking myself when I remember that I was the one who suggested that possibility in the first place.

“So we can’t go, but we can’t stay here.” Natsuki says, resting her forehead in her palm. “Dammit!”

“Wait. Hold on, guys.” Monika says. “The streets are full of zombies, yeah. But that’s the _streets_.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” Natsuki groans.

“No! Look again. Look into the yard across from us.” Monika insists, pointing for emphasis. “See any zombies there?”

I follow Monika’s finger and look for myself. Lo and behold, anywhere that has a closed barrier between it and the street free of zombies!

“Good catch, Monika!” I say. If we can just stay away from the main roads, we’ll be fine!

“But we still have to cross the street, don’t we?” Sayori says, not looking _quite_ as gloomy as she did before.

“We don’t.” Yuri says.

Yuri beckons us to follow her with a gesture of her head. 

When we meet her in the backyard, we’re greeted by a sight much like other backyards in our city. It’s a long patch of lawn and greenery; surrounded on all sides by the houses and businesses of Yuri’s block. Each building forms part of the wall that secludes this island of green from the eyes and noise of the street. The whole of it is divided by fences of every type you can imagine.

And wouldn’t you know it? It was zombie free!

“Were it not for the.. well… ‘congestion’ of the street, we’d have simply taken a right at my front door until we reached Misuzu Street. But if we cut through here, we needn’t deal with them until we need to cross to Panaya Road.” Yuri explains.

“So we’re putting the fight off?” Natsuki asks.

“And abbreviating it.” Yuri says, already halfway over her backyard fence.

But when Yuri looks back at all of us, she seems to lose her confidence and gets back down. “That is… I’m sorry. I never confirmed if you were all in favor of this plan before I-”

“Yuri.” Monika cut in tersely. “It’s the best idea we have. You know the area better than us. It’s _fine_. Now _move_.”

Yuri just looks at Monika like a kicked puppy before she goes back to hopping the fence. The rest of us are quick to follow. Monika makes it over without much of a struggle. Yuri nearly loses her footing on the wood planks before she makes it over. Natsuki needs a hand from Monika to reach the top, and Sayori and I both need someone to pull us over.

But hey! We’re all over the fence now. We’ve taken the first step of… a lot of steps to Uncle J’s place.

Looks like we’ve got a bit of climbing ahead of us. I do my best to catch up to Yuri so that I can eke out a little more time with her. Besides she _was_ the one who pulled me over the fence.

“So… The big adventure begins, huh?” I say, matching Yuri’s pace.

“I suppose so.” Yuri says, her eyes practically locked on her house. I keep going a few paces before I realize Yuri’s not next to me anymore.

“You okay?” I ask.

“It’s… strange, really.” Yuri says. “At the moment, it scarcely feels different from stepping out to pick up some dry cleaning. But I’m all too aware of the fact that this may be the last time I ever lay eyes on my home.”

Home… Yesterday I was too busy defying death to even think about home. But now that Yuri brings it up…

“I get it. There’s plenty of things I wish I got a chance to take from home before... well, _that_ happened. There’s a few first edition manga I’m really wishing I could keep with me.” I say.

“Ah, I’m sorry.” Yuri says. “I… forgot that you never even had the opportunity to say goodbye to your home, and now I’m holding everyone else up so that I can-”

“Yuri.” I cut in, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re getting your chance, so take advantage of it."

Yuri must be getting used to that gesture, because she doesn’t even look at me. In fact, I think it might even be soothing.

“But… Monika already-”

“I don’t know what the hell Monika’s deal is.” I interject. “Sure, everything about this is stressful, but that doesn’t give her any right to snap at you like that.”

Yuri looks at the ground. “No, she’s right. We’ve delayed long enough, and so far all I’ve done is cause more delay.”

“If it weren't for you, we would’ve gotten eaten while we argued about where to go. Besides going to see Sayori’s uncle, this has all been _your_ plan.” I say.

Yuri takes a moment to consider my words. Her eyes turn towards me, but her head doesn’t. “Even still… I find myself too deeply anchored to the past to even leave this spot.”

“Then let’s focus on the present.” I say, gently pushing her shoulder in the direction we need to go. “So we have our little stroll through the garden and we make it to Misuzu Street. Then what?”

I see Yuri begin to contemplate her answer, but before she gives it I start making my way across her neighbor’s backyard. The next fence is a lower chain-link fence. At least that will be far easier to cross.

“But-! Wait! You can’t just leave without me!” Yuri shouts, rushing to catch up to me.

And just like that, the anchor of the past is aweigh! Or… whatever you call it when you stop using an anchor. I’m a high schooler, not a sailor.

When Yuri gets back into step with me, the conversation resumes. “What happens when we reach Misuzu Street depends entirely on what greets us there. More likely than not, plenty more of the infected.”

I hop over the chain-link fence and find myself under the shade of a large maple tree. Once Yuri crosses over the mercifully low barrier, our conversation resumes.

“Let’s assume there’s just as many of them there as there were in front of your house, then what?” I ask, waving at the others ahead to indicate that we’re catching up.

Yuri fidgets with her katana as she contemplates her answer, twirling and examining the blade while her brain worked. She could do those maneuvers in her sleep, couldn’t she?

“If the infected are as densely packed on Misuzu as they were on my street, then the least dangerous means to cross would be to find a way to cross from the second floor, and onto the roofs on the other side.” Yuri says.

“And how are we going to do that?” I ask.

This next fence is one of those plastic walls pretending to be a picket fence; the kind with no gaps between the pickets. The low hanging branches of the maple are the one thing that makes crossing possible. Short of just breaking a hole in it, of course.

“My first instinct would be to find a long plank that we can use as a foot bridge, but the chances of one being within reach aren’t quite promising.” Yuri says.

“And if nothing… Hold on.” I put one hand on a low branch and plant my foot on the maple’s trunk. If I didn’t have a ten pound rifle swinging off of my back, this would be a lot easier. Still, I manage to haul myself on top of the branch and take a seat.

“Anyway, what if there’s nothing we can use to cross? What if our only choice is to fight through?” I ask.

Yuri uses the time it takes her to climb onto this branch to think out her answer. I don’t like how far it’s bending with the weight of two people on it, so I carefully transfer myself onto a branch closer to the faux picket fence.

“At that density? Our only hope would be to somehow block off a path to the other side. If we tried to shoot through all of them, we’d simply deplete our ammo without so much as making a dent in their numbers.”

“If only we had some kind of grenade. Something that would clear a whole bunch of them at once.” I muse, offering Yuri my hand as she makes her way to the next branch.

“The most accessible way to do that would be some sort of flame weapon, but that comes with a number of its own problems.” Yuri says.

“It would smell awful, for one.” I say. The next few branches are fairly close together, so it doesn’t take much for me to cross over and hop down on the other side of the picket fence.

“Worse. The fire may reach us as well.” Yuri says. She doesn’t have much trouble crossing either, but she doesn’t jump down.

“Something wrong?” I say.

“Uu… This height… My body simply won’t let me jump.” Yuri says.

“Come on, it’s not that far! Seven feet, maybe?” I say.

“It’s not the rational part of my brain stopping me.” Yuri replies.

“Guess I’ll just have to catch you, then.” I say, putting my arms out.

I watch Yuri nod to herself and squeeze her eyes shut. I give her a countdown from three to try and get her to let go, and with a squeak of terror, she allows herself to fall from the branch and into my arms.

A second later, I notice that I’m holding Yuri in a bridal carry. Our eyes lock as we both realize what’s going on. Normally, I’d be struggling to hold the weight of another human being. But the intensity of our gaze, the burning in our cheeks, and how unexpectedly soft she feels in my arms… It’s enough to make me forget all about the weight.

“MC…” I can tell Yuri’s trying to find the right words to say, and I’ve got a hunch as to what she wants to say. It’s something I’ve been wanting to say myself. And now seems like the right moment to finally-

“Yuri! MC! Where are you guys?” Monika calls out from ahead of us.

And there goes the moment. I put Yuri back on her feet and the two of us head for the north end of the block in silence. Neither of us say a word, but the air of disappointment is unmistakable.

And now that the tension is gone, I start to notice the growing pain in my shoulders. Sweet Jesus on the hood of a Porsche! It feels like someone tried to pull my arms out at the shoulder and got bored halfway through!

We regroup with the others in a fenced off alleyway. Thanks to Natsuki hacking away at the last few fences with her Lobo, the rest of us were spared having to climb over. I think I heard some gunfire too. Since each shot was followed by something to the effect of “Owie!” from Sayori, it becomes pretty clear that she was trying to help Natsuki make holes in fences.

“Okay, that’s everyone. Let’s get moving.” Monika says. But when she goes to open the door in front of her, Yuri stops her.

“If you don’t mind, we’ll… Let’s go a few doors down, to your right. We’ll need to close every inch between us and Panaya Road we can.” She says.

“It is pretty quiet right now, but you’re right. Who knows how long that will last?” Monika says. “Take the lead, Yuri.”

Something changes in Yuri. I’m guessing it’s the fact that Monika is showing that she believes in her. Whatever it is, Yuri gets that serious, confident look in her eye as she leads us to a few doors to the right. She even draws her pistol and looks down the sights as she moves. Something about seeing that gets me thinking, and I instinctually aim the Garand at the area behind us. I’ve played enough online shooters to know that it’s a good idea to guard the sightlines that your teammates aren’t.

“Clear!” I hear Yuri call from behind me. Sounds like my cue to get indoors.

I’m the last of the five to enter, and I close the door behind us. When I turn around and get a look at my surroundings, I find myself in a commercial grade kitchen. All of the lights are working, except the three shattered ones. Pots, pans and condiments can be found just about everywhere but where they’re supposed to be. People really turned this deli upside down last night, huh? Still, Natsuki starts scouring the kitchen for any useful foodstuffs.

Through the shattered glass of the counter’s display window, we finally lay eyes on Misuzu Street. There’s a surprisingly small number of zombies out there, but I quickly remember that we can only see a small sliver of the whole road. I can’t quite make out what the building across the street is. My best guess is some kind of office building.

“Alright. So what’s the plan now?” I ask nobody in particular. Yuri and I may have spitballed about this before, but we never planned for an unexpectedly _small_ number of zombies.

“It looks like we could run across.” Sayori says, a glint of hope in her eyes.

Monika shakes her head. “They’ll be on us the second they know we’re here. We’ll have to fight a few of them at least.”

Before anyone else can remark, Natsuki cuts in with a “Tadaa!~”

She holds up a half-empty bottle of ponzu sauce and a can of Spam. “The scavenger extraordinaire does it again! You’re welcome.~”

“ _Natsuki._ ” Monika snaps in a harsh whisper. “Pipe down, the zombies are _right there!_ ” 

I can see Natsuki about to snap back, but the mention of nearby zombies makes her reconsider.

“Hmph.” Is all the response Natsuki gives.

“It’s okay. You didn’t know.” Sayori says. The consoling hand Sayori put on her arm seemed to be enough to get Natsuki to focus again. “Now, how do you think we should cross, Natsuki?”

”Can’t we just shoot those two guys in front of the door and go?” Natsuki asks, already pulling out her revolver.

“I guess that would work. Then we just shoot any of the others that show up.” I say.

“Sounds like a plan, then.” Monika says. “But who does the shooting?”

“Why don’t we all? Then we can be sure they go down, and we can all get a feel for our weapons.” Yuri suggests.

“Alright. We’ll take them out Napoleon style.” I say, already shouldering my Garand.

“On a count of three...” Monika says, shouldering her own rifle.

_3..._

_2..._

_1..._

**[BOOM]** **[EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…]**

The two zombies are blown away by the volley, but so are my eardrums. The kick from the rifle isn’t _quite_ as bad as I thought it’d be, though. Less of a sucker punch, more of a harsh shove. My aching shoulders are grateful.

But we’ve got bigger problems than earaches. Turns out, the zombies are attracted to loud noises. You know, like five firearms going off at once. Two zombies are down, fifteen are now approaching us. Some of them are runners.

“Shit, _shit!”_ Natsuki fires her revolver again. She shakes out her wrist and curses to herself immediately after.

Monika’s Mosin drops two shamblers with a single shot, but loading another bullet is obviously a struggle each time.

Sayori is seated with her back pressed against the deli counter; frozen solid with terror.

__Looks like it’s down to me and Yuri._ _

__I start firing wildly into the mass of shamblers. I hear the _[PING]_ of an empty clip. A runner pounces at me from over the counter._ _

__I keep hitting him with the rifle butt, but he hits me harder with his fists. Right as his teeth get a grip on me, Yuri lops his head clean off. A single, graceful arc of her katana sends the runner’s head chomping ineffectually to the floor._ _

__But all that just gave the shamblers time to close in. While Yuri fires her pistol into the approaching mass, I have just enough time to get another clip into the Garand. I take a deep breath and recall last night. Yuri’s whisper of “pull the bolt _all the way_ back” returns to my mind._ _

__With my rifle loaded and my thumb unbitten, I’m back in the fight._ _

__Natsuki and Monika’s slow, punishing shots, paired with Yuri’s quick cherry-tapping pistol rounds only just holds the mob back. But the next eight rounds off of my Garand shatter the stalemate. As well as quite a few zombie heads._ _

__And just like that, the infected wave is now a small hill of bodies on the deli floor._ _

__“Holy shit…” I say, finally lowering my rifle._ _

__“We… We did it!” Natsuki shouts, raising her Lobo in triumph._ _

__About halfway through our first round of high fives and fistbumps, we hear the throaty roars of another hundred infected bearing down on us. It sounds like it’s coming from both sides._ _

__Monika and I stand and stare at each other, both of our hands still frozen in the air for a high five that never happens._ _

__Before any of us can even say “Oh shit”, half a dozen runners come rushing into the cafe. Shit, I’m still empty from the last fight!_ _

__I guess everyone else is too, because the other three have their melee weapons out. That’s what shakes me into remembering. “Right, The bayonet!”_ _

__A runner comes at me from around the counter. This time I’m ready, and I plant my foot on his chest to pin him in front of the cash register._ _

__Of course, that does nothing to stop him from clawing the shit out of my leg. Every time I remember a step in the process, the zombie damn near breaks my knee with his fist. Each blow hurts enough to make me lose focus. Once he pukes all over my ankle, the close brush with infection finally makes me realize something._ _

Dammit, I’ve been holding a 10 inch long knife this whole time!

I bend down and drive the blade right into the zombie’s open mouth. He thrashes and bats at my arm, but I grit my teeth and drive the blade deeper until I feel bone give way on the other side.

The zombie goes limp under my bleeding, bile-stained leg. I look up in time to see Yuri twirl the blood from the blade of her katana. I look to my left, I look to my right. I don’t see any more runners attacking us.

“That’s the last of them, then?” I ask.

The closing mass of shamblers answer my question for me. Not with words, but with the collective sound of their groans.

__Monika hops over the counter and starts dashing across the street. Natsuki isn’t too far behind. I join them, but stop when I see that Yuri’s still got her feet planted. When she looks down to the floor, I realize what she’s looking at._ _

____

_“Sayori!”_

I rush back behind the counter to find Sayori still frozen with terror. Our eyes meet, but she’s hyperventilating too hard to speak to me. Words aren’t going to do any good here. I just throw my arms around her and start running for the other side of the street. I know I’m leaving myself totally defenseless. But if that’s what I have to do to save the one person who knows me best, it will be done.

Thank god I’m not fighting alone. Monika and Natsuki fire shots at any zombie that looks like it’s getting too close. Even at their own peril. It’s not like the horde isn’t closing on them too.

Yuri takes up the rear. A stray runner comes at us in the direction we’d just come from, but Yuri’s bladesmanship makes short work of that one. A few broad arcs sever hands that get too close to Sayori and I.

I only realize that I’ve crossed the street alive when my shoulder brushes against Monika’s. Natsuki tries the hard oak front door, but it refuses to open.

“Sayori! The door!” Natsuki shouts. That was all she had time to say before another zombie closed into Lobo range.

Sayori’s eyes flash with realization at what Natsuki was asking of her, and she raises her shotgun at the door’s handle. The blast doesn’t go all the way through, but it makes a big enough dent that we can smash our way to the other side of the door handle.

Monika throws the door open with a “GO! GO! _GO!_ ”

We go, go, go alright. Even though we slammed the office door shut behind us, we know it isn’t going to hold. So we go, go, go. All the way to the second floor. Then we realize that will just trap us. So we just keep going until we’re on the roof of the building next door to the office.

Only then do we dare to try and catch our breath.

Monika braces her hands on her knees. Looks like she’s still got some fight in her. The rest of us? We practically collapse when we realize that the immediate danger has passed. Now that the rush of adrenaline is gone, I notice that my vision has gone fuzzy from the exertion, and how my heart is pounding incessantly in my ears.

“Any…” Sayori abandons that sentence when she finds that one word took all the air in her lungs. It takes her another five ragged huffs to try again. “Any-” [pant] “one-” [pant] “injured?” Sayori finally asks.

“Pants got puked on, but… “ The air is entering and leaving my lungs too quickly for me to say anything. So I just lean my head back on the air exhaust unit I’ve propped myself up against. Oh god… Ah fuck…

“You’ll be fine.” Monika says. I’m not sure if she’s finishing my sentence for me or reprimanding me for perceived weakness.

We all just sit there; too weak to even stand. Through my dulled vision, I watch a shambler lazily wave her arms from the roof we jumped from. Eventually, she leans forward just an inch too far and plummets into the alley between us.

Thank god. If she’d made it over, Monika would have been on her own in fending her off.

By the time we’ve all recovered, I see that the sun has passed its apex in the sky. At the same time, I notice some pretty serious looking clouds blowing in from the east.

I begin to pull some food out of my improvised pack, but Monika stops me.

“We’ll eat when we get where we’re going” She insists. “Now let’s _go_. We’ve wasted enough time, you big babies.”

“Well excuse _us_ , miss track star!” I hear Natsuki say under her breath. Nonetheless, the rest of us pull ourselves to our feet to keep moving.

Once Yuri gets us moving in the right direction, we continue crossing over the rooftops in silence. We only encounter a handful of easily disposed of infected up there, but the zombies aren’t what’s bothering me right now. It’s the silence.

Seriously. We just passed the intersection between Misuzu and Panaya, and none of us have said a word. Monika’s keeps her back to us as she leads the way, and I can see Natsuki trying to scowl a hole into the back of Monika’s skull. Yuri doesn’t watch Monika with _quite_ as much contempt, but I can tell she’s wondering what horrible things Monika is saying about her in her head.

Sayori attempts to start up a pleasant conversation a few times. She even tries to get us to sing, but the pointed silence quickly snuffs out these attempts to lighten the mood. This means I spend the next half an hour alone with my thoughts.

When I’m not navigating a gap between two buildings, I get a few moments to appreciate the view up here. I never did get to see my home city from the rooftops before. Then again, I’ve never seen it with half of the towers downtown burning either.

Speaking of fire, I can see smoke rising all over town from this vantage point. It makes me wish I could have come up here _before_ everything went to hell. If it weren’t for the reason _why_ we were up here, and the tense air around us all right now, it would almost be romantic.

Maybe once this is all over with, I’ll bring Yuri up here with me. Maybe on top of my house. Then we can just enjoy a sunset together. Maybe bring a bottle of wine up with us and enjoy one another’s company.

But there’s no guarantee we’ll even live to see that. I’d better find my chance to say the things I want to say to her quick. The next time we catch a moment alone. Yeah. I’ll make that a promise to myself. Next time we have a moment, I’ll let it fly. I’ll tell her just how much she means to me.

Right as I finally get roof hopping down to a science, Yuri stops us.

“We’ve made it.” She says. “Now it’s simply a matter of getting down from here.”

Thankfully, there’s an openable skylight on the roof for us to enter through. At least _something_ was simple and straightforward today. What’s better, the skylight lets us land on top of a display with a flat top. None of us have to risk dropping a full story to get to the floor.

While I’m lowering myself down, I’m already dreaming of how hard we’re going to feast on the contents of this konbini. Gyudon cheesesteaks, sushi, hot dogs galore!

But then I see about 200 people had that same idea last night. The front windows have been shattered, and there’s barely anything left inside but shrapnel and sauce packets. The other four drop down one by one, and I see the disappointment grow in each one’s face as they see how thoroughly the place has been ransacked.

“Well, at least it’s still a safe place to sit down and eat.” Sayori says.

“Though… There’s far less to eat here than I was anticipating.” Yuri says. “I’m so sorry. It was so stupid of me to think there would be anything-”

Sayori pulls Yuri into a quick hug. “It’s okay. You were just trying to help. Besides, it’s not like we don’t have our own food!”

Sayori’s always had a contagious smile. Even Monika seems a little less angry after seeing that.

“Okay everyone.” Monika says. “Let’s throw together some lunch, plan our next move, and then we can get back to-”

A thunderclap shakes the floor of the konbini, and a heavy rain isn’t far behind. Monika flips through her phone, and then growls in frustration at what she sees. “Nevermind. We’re staying the night. Let’s get something between these windows and us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a bit longer to publish than the others. I've got a handful of beta readers on board now, and I wanted them to look this all over before it got published.


	4. Family

It’s no honeymoon cabana, but after we barricade the shattered windows in the front of the konbini, it provides far more comfort than any of us would have expected.

It poured through the night, but once we had the skylight closed, the konbini kept us nice and dry. The power grid’s still holding, so we had access to a microwave and a space heater. The microwave was a real MVP. I don’t think I could have eaten that weird stew of ramen noodles, ponzu, ketchup and spam cold. But after three separate close brushes with death on Misuzu Street, I’m glad to eat anything warm and vaguely nourishing.

After eating a stew like that, I can see why Natsuki wanted to go and do some scavenging. But I also get why Monika practically grabbed her by the collar and told her no. It  _ was _ raining hard enough to float Noah’s Arc out there. And we don’t have any changes of clothing her size, let alone anything to keep the rain off.

Sayori checked everyone over for injuries. That is, after wolfing down two helpings of weirdo stew. I wasn’t until I poked her forehead and pointed to the stain on my pants leg that she remembered what needed to be done.

Once Yuri had all of her wounds looked over, the very first thing she did was pull that atomizer out of her kit and start filling the konbini with the scent of chamomile. I didn’t even realize how tense and afraid she looked until the chamomile started to relax her.

With her cuts cleaned, her belly filled and somewhere to relax, even Monika started to come down from her sour mood. Before we knew it we were all chatting away, and even complimenting each other on the teamwork we managed back at Misuzu Street.

Once we’d talked away what little energy we had left, we made beds for ourselves out of the contents of the store’s magazine rack and went to sleep. Maybe we should have set shifts to keep watch, but hey. Hindsight is 20/20.

_ Man _ I wish this morning was as pleasant as last night.

I sit up from my bed of Home-Improvement Illustrated and almost scream from the cramping pain that shoots up my leg.

“Hooooly shit!” I groan, marveling at how that exclamation started life as a yawn.

“What’s wr-” Yuri starts. Given the way she winced and braced her back, I’m guessing she’s figured out what’s wrong first hand.

Looks like everybody is waking up in pain. Natsuki is struggling to even sit up.

Sayori grimaces, walks her own pain off and kneels at Natsuki’s side.

“What hurts?” Sayori asks, offering a hand for Natsuki to pull herself up by.

Natsuki’s response comes out hoarse and breathy. “God…  _ everything _ .”

Monika looks up from her phone as she hears this exchange. “Is it really that bad?”

“ _ Yes. It is. _ ” Natsuki snaps back.

With a lingering, hurt look. Monika just looks back at her phone. I see her lips move, but I don’t catch what she said.

“So, uh… In other news...” Monika begins. “They figured out that the virus spreads from contact between zombie puke and open wounds, and despite a rash of infections in Los Angeles, the army air drops are due to start tomorrow.”

The news seems to lift everyone’s spirits. Even the information about how the virus spreads. At least now we know exactly what to avoid.

“Hold on a second. How did you find that out?” I ask.

“You guys didn’t figure it out? Power’s still on, and so is the konbini’s wifi router.” Monika says.

We’ve had wifi the whole night!? Everyone who has their phone on them immediately pulls it out. Myself included.

“If the wifi still works…” Yuri says, even more hope shining in her eyes than before. ”Then the cell phone towers are likely to still be functioning as well.”

We all seem to have the same thought at once. That thought being “I have to call my parents.”

I pull out my own phone, only to be greeted with a blank screen and a dead battery. Damn it all!

I only hear one half of Yuri’s conversation.

“Mom! It’s me, Yuri!”

…

“Yes, I’m still okay. Have you and dad arranged to extend your stay in the Fiji Empire? Any outbreaks there?”

…

“ _ Oh _ , thank goodness. I’m with a group of friends, and we’re heading somewhere safe. One of us has an uncle who happens to be quite the survivalist.”

…

“No, no! I’ll be safe there. He doesn’t sound like the type to take an…  _ interest _ in us. Besides…”

I watch Yuri lower her head and blush.

“There’s a boy in our group, and I… I can count on him.”

I can barely conceal my dopey grin as that remark makes my heart flutter.

“I know. I… Never thought it would happen either…”

Please don’t look in my direction, Yuri.

…

“Why yes. The ‘collection’ has proven quite useful. And the others are learning rather quickly. At least they’re all keeping their fingers off the trigger.”

…

“I’ll try.”

...

“Of course. I love you too. I’ll make it through this. I promise.”

Yuri lowers the phone from her ear.

Sayori and Monika end their conversations not long after  Yuri .

“Hey, Natsuki. Aren’t you going to call anybody?” Sayori asks, watching Natsuki tap away at her phone.

Natsuki rolls her eyes. “Not my dad. That’s for sure. The drunk old prick can  _ rot _ .”

The rest of us exchange looks. Monika gives us a solemn, knowing nod.

“So… with that out of the way...” Monika glances one more time at Natsuki. It’s almost looks like she’s trying to make sure Natsuki’s okay. “I think I figured out where to go next.”

Monika beckons for us all to gather around her phone. On the screen is a road map of the area between us and Mt. Amagoi.

“We’re here, and there’s a metro line just a block away from us.” Monika says, gesturing along the line with a finger. “Once we get there, that’s an elevated, unobstructed path west that’ll get us halfway there. I think we could make it in a day if we push ourselves.”

Push ourselves, huh? I try and make my groan as quiet as possible. I can tell Yuri and Sayori aren’t thrilled by the idea either. But Natsuki? Natsuki’s more than ready to voice her thoughts.

“Oh,  _ suuuure _ .” Natsuki says. “Just let me draw from my bottomless reserves of stamina. Exhaustion? Muscle tears? What on earth are those?”

Monika gives everyone an incredulous look. “Am I really the only one who was taking care of themselves before all this? Just because we’re a little sore doesn’t make us need to move any less.”

Right as Natuski is about to say something back, Monika makes for the front door and holds it open for us. “C’mon, you wimps! We’re burning daylight!”

“What’s gotten into her?” Yuri asks me in a whisper.

“I don’t know.” I whisper back. “Maybe it’s how she deals with stress.”

“I only wish she’d refrain from insulting us…” Yuri laments.

Once everyone’s got their gear back together, we head out the front door. We’re greeted by the morning sun, empty streets, and a cluster of about twenty soaked, thoroughly rained on zombies. I think I see a rail bridge behind them, but they’re completely blocking the way to it. At least they haven’t noticed us yet.

“Yeah, we’re not sneaking past that, are we?” I remark, keeping my voice low.

“It shouldn’t be a difficult fight, however. Not compared to yesterday.” Yuri says.

“Just don’t shoot all at once this time, please.” Sayori adds, one hand already poised to plug her ears.

“Let’s just get this over with quick.” Natsuki says. “This gun hurts my wrist almost as much as it hurts their faces.”

I raise my  Garand at the cluster, keeping the sights on the  toughest looking zombie’s head. “Ready when you are.”

“What, were you waiting for an order or something?” Monika says. “Ugh. Just shoot em’.”

I shoot first, and the  bullet lands right where I aimed it. The others follow suit in their own time, but what surprises me is the booming report from Sayori’s shotgun. Wait. Did she aim at the lamp post?

The second shot confirms it. As the Lamp post leans precariously to the left, I get an idea of what she was trying to do. There were more runners in that cluster than I was hoping there would be. There’s no way we’ll be able to drop them all before they get too close.

Monika, Natsuki and I manage to take another five of the runners out before they’re in melee range. And of course, Yuri’s katana comes out with the deadly grace we’ve come to expect.

She’s good, but she’s not seven-versus-one good. But we can’t exactly shoot into the cluster either. We can’t afford a gunshot wound right now. Especially not on our best fighter.

I never did take the bayonet off my rifle last night. It’s obvious what I have to do now.

I charge in, with all the speed my battered leg can provide. Whatever battlecry I thought I would shout is replaced with inarticulate screaming. It’s filled with just as much terror and pain as it is fury.

The bayonet digs into a runner’s kidney. It doesn’t kill her, but it certainly gets her attention. The runner snaps around to face me, heedless of how she’d just sliced herself open on the blade. She makes wild, rapid swings at me. Even driving the blade deeper into herself to do so.

What the hell do I do about that!? I don’t have room to pull the blade out and stab again. I just pull the trigger. It can’t make things worse.

The muzzle blast makes a big, spine-exposing hole in her abdomen as the actual bullet catches a different runner in the clavicle. Yuri wastes no time lopping that runner’s head right off of his shattered shoulders.

But now there’s nothing between me and the runner who ran herself through.  _ And _ she’s holding my weapon with her viscera. What comes next is a terrifying flurry of fists and infected teeth. One arm isn’t enough to deflect it all, and letting go of my weapon is the stupidest thing I could do right now. This arm’s going to get just as fucked up as my leg, isn’t it?

“MC! Duck!” Yuri shouts. I think I see what she’s going to do, so I duck. Two handgun bullets drill into the back of the runner’s skull. Right on schedule! Once I’ve shoved the motionless zombie off of me, I give her a nod of appreciation.

I hear gunshots from behind me. With a quick glance over my shoulder, I see that it’s Monika and Natsuki keeping the shamblers off of us, one bullet at a time.

The weirdo stew is threatening to come back up, but I make one more charge. The bayonet catches a runner right in the throat. If I were two seconds slower, they’d have grabbed Yuri from behind. One heel to their hip, one round through their skull, and the cluster of soggy zombies is no more.

A few other zombies are approaching the commotion, but the runners are easy enough to pick off, and the shamblers won’t arrive until lunchtime.

But god DAMN am I feeling every single blow. Even the ones from yesterday. Not even I know how I haven’t already passed out.

I can’t even cheer or talk about how we totally whooped their asses right now. All I can do is sigh. The kind of exasperated sigh you let out when you find out that you actually get off work three hours later than you expected. None of us even bother to say. “Let’s keep moving.” We just do. Everyone wants to get out of the streets as quickly as possible.

Too bad “As quickly as possible” still feels like an eternal slog. All we can do is put one weary foot in front of the other. The sun beats down on the waterlogged, puddle-ridden streets and onto our miserable faces.   


One foot in front of the other...

Our sweat can’t even do its job, thanks to the humidity…

One foot in front of the other…

The streets are really starting to smell. The spilled contents of neglected garbage cans are marinating in rainwater; being slow baked by the sun. Not to mention the motionless body in that alleyway. I think that one’s been there a while.

One foot in front of the other...

 It feels like I’m breathing in swamp ass and breathing out chunks of my very soul.

One foot in front of the other…

When we reach the rail bridge, we quickly realize that there’s no way to access the tracks from here. The nearest station is  _ another _ block away. You know the drill...

One foot in front of the other…

One foot in front of the other…

One foot in front of the other…

Natsuki collapses onto the bench of a bus stop. Sayori is kind enough to give her some water from the Calpico bottle she’d been carrying her water in. Leaning her head back, Natsuki just lets the lukewarm sink water fall into her mouth.

Once she’s recovered, we get moving again. Though, with our pace, “moving” almost sounds like too generous of a term for it.

One foot in front of the other…

With how far my back is hunching, it almost feels more appropriate to start crawling.  I glance over to see how Yuri’s doing. When I see how upright and proper she looks as she walks, I begin to wonder if I’m seeing things in my delirium. But when our eyes meet, I can see the ache and fatigue in her eyes. Is she really that concerned with keeping up a graceful front? I’d be impressed if I could feel anything but misery right now.

One foot in front of the other…

One foot in front of the other…

“Hey… There it is!” Monika says. Just having the station in sight is enough for me to stand up a little straighter. We’re almost there! And they have benches in there! And shade! And vending machines!

Onefootinfrontoftheother onefootinfrontoftheother onefootinfrontoftheother!

My calf muscles feel like they’re going to explode, but I ignore them as I rush up the motionless escalator and into the station.

They have benches to crash on, and the vending machines are still intact, but the roof is all glass. You know how a car gets hot when sunlight goes through the windows into the cabin? Imagine that, but in a room the size of a small retail outlet.

Nevertheless, our cramping muscles need somewhere safe to give out on us. So we all collapse onto the bench nearest to us.  Yuri and I wind up leaning against each other, but we’re both too exhausted to care. If anyone wants to make a cute remark about it, I probably won’t even hear them over the sound of my heart and lungs coming down from overdrive.

I watch Natsuki pull herself to her feet a minute later and approach a vending machine. By some miracle, the vending machines in this station are completely intact, but the lights aren’t on.

“Anyone got any spare change?” Natsuki asks.

“Considering the lights are off, I’m  _ pretty sure _ they’re not working.” Monika flicks a dollar coin off her thumb towards Natsuki. “But fine. Whatever.”

Natsuki catches the coin with a speed and ease that I never would have expected. Then she tries to put it through the machine’s coin slot. Just as Monika predicted, it won’t go in. The vending machines are dead as a doornail.

Natsuki sends her Lobo right through the glass.

“WHAT THE F-” Monika jumps to her feet. “What the hell do you think you’re doing!?”

“Surviving.” Natsuki says, stuffing as many bags of snacks and candy bars into her pockets and pack as possible. “Do you really think I’m just going to let a big case of unclaimed food go unopened?”

“All of these machines were perfectly intact before you did that. I’m not going to let this club turn into a band of looters.” Monika says.

Natsuki rolls her eyes. “That kind of thinking is for people who  _ don’t _ have a bunch of slobbering dead people trying to kill them every five minutes. Do you want to eat or not?”

Monika tries to respond, but I can see that she's too annoyed and tired to form a sentence. So she just pinches the bridge of her nose. “Ugh, whatever. We all caught our breath? Let’s get miles behind us.”

The rest of us pull ourselves off the benches.  I’m no longer certain if all the sweat in my hair is still my own, but again, we’re both too tired to give a crap. We head through the doorways to the platforms, and soon figure out which set of tracks we need to follow.

“This is the one, guys!” Monika says, crouching down to hop off the platform. Right as she’s ready to jump, an eastbound train screams past the platform; 2 inches from Monika’s nose. Judging by the horn not being blown, the breakneck speed it was travelling at, and the lazy arms hanging out the windows, that was a train full of infected passengers. Probably the driver too.

I watch the train as it speeds off. A couple hundred feet past us, the train gets thrown into a siding and plows right through the stopblock at highway speeds. As each car in the train careens into the nearby suburbia like 20-ton buckshot pellets, I can’t decide if the sight or the sound is the greater spectacle.

The five of us stare at the literal trainwreck unfolding before us. When the dust settles, and the last metro car slams into the last storefront, Sayori turns her attention to Monika.

“Are you okay?” Is all she asks.

“Well, if I wasn’t alert before I sure as shit am now.” Monika replies. “Okay everyone... Don’t walk directly on the tracks if you can help it.”

The walk down the railroad tracks isn’t much different from the walk to the station, but at least now there’s a sense that we’re starting to cover some ground. Doesn’t stink anywhere near as much either. The elevated tracks put us about two stories above the ground. So we’re getting a view about on par with the rooftop hopping we did last night, but without having to watch our step so much. To the west, I can make out a ridge of mountains on the horizon. Is that where we’re headed? Then I remember that we’re covering that distance on foot...

I’d best distract myself.

Oh yeah, wasn’t there something I was going to say to Yuri first chance I got? No time like the present.

“Hey, Yuri…” I begin, getting her attention as I gather my nerves. “Remember that thing you said? How unnerved you were by how easily killing came to you?”

“That was before I understood our situation.” Yuri answered. “Now that I know the nature of our foe, I’m much more comfortable with all this.”

She sighs. “Putting them out of their misery is a mercy, in a twisted way.”

“Oh…” I say, stopping in my tracks.

Well  _ that _ took the wind out of my sails. I’m not sure how to proceed anymore.

“But I!... I appreciate the concern though, MC. D-Did I say something wrong?” Yuri adds.

Yup. She totally noticed my disappointment. “I mean, I’m glad you’re feeling better but…” I sigh. Might as well come out with it. “And here I’d been practicing this whole speech in my head about how you weren’t a monster. How much you mean to me and all that.”

If I didn’t seem like a complete and utter doofus before, I certainly do now. She’s even laughing at me, and I totally deserve it.

Wait, is she  _ blushing _ ?

“Ahaha… Well, i-if you went through all that effort for me, I’d…” Yuri hides her face behind her bangs. “I’d still like to hear it.”

Both of us stop and move to one side of the tracks. This is it. This is my moment!

“Yuri….” I swallow down my fear and press on. “You’re no monster. You’re a warrior. No, an  _ angel _ who’s already done so much to keep her friends safe.”

Oh no, she’s smiling. I’m making a total ass of myself, aren’t I? But I’ve already started. Can’t back out now.

“You’re not taking lives. The infected are already doomed. You’re saving  _ our _ lives.”

I get up close and hold Yuri by the shoulders; looking her right in the eyes. “Yuri, I… I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather go through all of this with.”

Yuri doesn’t pull away, but she doesn’t meet my gaze either. I should probably back off.

“I’m sorry, I… I laid it on too thick, didn’t I?” I say, letting go of her shoulders.

Yuri shakes her head. “It’s fine… I-It’s just… a lot to take in is all.”

She’s still smiling, though. I think I see a blush too. I’ll take what small victories I can get.

“Did you mean all of that?” Yuri peeks out from behind her bangs.

I nod. “Every word of it.”

“Good.” Yuri breathes a sigh of relief. “At least now I know that I’m not the only one thinking that way.”

I must’ve worn my excitement on my face, since Yuri quickly moves to amend that. “I mean!.. I-I’m… talking about the nature of the infected, of course. But...”

Yuri looks like she’s trying to carefully construct her next sentence before she says it. “I’m… I…”

Here it comes. She’s totally going to say it! “I’m also… very glad to have you at my side.”

My heart flutters when I hear that. Yesyesyesyesyes!

“Hah… I never thought someone would be so excited to hear me say that.” Yuri says.

“Well, who wouldn’t?” I say. “I can’t imagine why anyone  _ wouldn’t _ be excited to spend so much time with you!”

Yuri starts to bury her face again. “That’s… very sweet, MC. But… But I can.”

“What, because you’re shy? The weapon collection?” I ask. “Neither of those bother me. You might’ve noticed that I’m not exactly a social butterfly either. And the knives and guns? I don’t know much about them, but I think that’s kinda badass!”

That doesn’t seem to make Yuri feel any better. “Those aren’t the only things, MC. I’ve… let’s say I have…  _ other _ habits that you’ve yet to see. Thoughts that I dare not let out of my head.”

I raise an eyebrow “...Don’t we all?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Yuri says, one eye peeking out from behind her bangs.

“Everyone has things like that, Yuri. Secrets, weird thoughts that barge into your mindscape and make you stare at them for a little while, everyone gets that. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” I say.

Yuri looks like she’s trying to find the right words again, and-

“Oh, for FUCK’S SAKE, lovebirds!” Natsuki shouts, about 100 feet ahead of us. “You can whisper your sweet nothings and stare into each other’s eyes when we AREN’T standing on railroad tracks!”

We double time it to get back to the other three. At least they waited for us before we started walking again.

“Geez, Natsuki. I asked you to get their attention, not bite their heads off.” Monika says.

“Oh, you are the  _ last _ person to be tone policing us, Monika.” Natsuki snaps back. “You’ve been talking to us like we’re a bunch of disobedient fucking  _ children _ since we left Yuri’s house!”

Monika opens her mouth to respond, but Natsuki isn’t finished. She continues in a mocking falsetto. “Myeeeeeh! Let’s  _ gooooo _ you big stupid whiny babies! But don’t even  _ think _ about stopping to feed yourselves. You’d better just leave that whole fucking box of unclaimed food untouched and starve because opening it would hurt my  _ feeeeeeeliiiiiiiiiiiings! _ ”

Maybe I can defuse this. “Hey, Monika’s been kinda harsh, but she isn’t  _ trying _ to-”

“Don’t you even open your  _ goddamn mouth, _ loverboy!” Natsuki says. “I swear to Amaterasu if I have to watch you and Yuri give each other the fuck-eyes  _ one more time _ I don’t know if I’m going to shoot you or myself.”

“You needn’t drag the two of us into your temper tantrum, Natsuki.” Yuri fires back, stunning me.   


“Don’t  _ you _ have some wrist-cutting to do, you wannabe edgy bitch?” Natsuki says, not even looking at her.

“Both of you, stop it!” Monika orders. “Every second we spend bickering is another second we aren’t-”

“That’s all you fucking care about, isn’t it!?” Natsuki says. “The only thing that matters to you is your precious little  _ death march. _ ”

“Well if you’d prefer to sit here and wait for the zombies to get you, be my guest.” Monika says. “I’m sure we’d all like a break from your bitching!”

“Stop it! STOP IT!” Sayori shouts, on the verge of tears. “We’re supposed to be friends!”

“Friends don’t order friends to  _ FUCKING STARVE!” _ Natsuki’s words echo as she stares us all down, trembling with unbridled rage.

The volume, the  _ fury _ behind that last remark is enough to silence everyone else. After a palpable pause, Monika just turns her back and keeps on walking. As if to silently tell us all to move on from this fight.

My legs can walk away from what just happened, but my mind can’t. The entire, vindictive exchange keeps replaying in my head. Each time, my mind’s ear adds just one extra teaspoon of venom to each word.  Especially that little snipe Natsuki made about Yuri.

Without really thinking about it, I glance over in her direction, just to see how she’s doing. What I see drives just one more dagger into my heart.

When Yuri sees me looking in her direction, she quickly drives the bit of her katana she had exposed back into its sheath. I might have seen a streak of red on the blade, but I  _ definitely  _ saw a smear of red on her wrist. Our eyes lock, and Yuri’s are silently screaming with mortification. With fear at what I must think of what I’d just seen.

If I say anything out loud, everyone else will definitely hear me. I need some way to convey how I feel without actually saying it. There’s no body language for “I love you, but that’s not a healthy habit at all.” But there  _ is _ body language for “I love you as you are, and I’m not going to turn you away because of this.”

I match pace with her, shoulder to shoulder, and gently rest my head against hers. When she doesn’t pull away, I decide to really drive the point home by gently petting her hair. I might be laying it on a bit thick, but I think that’s exactly what Yuri needs right now. She just got found out on something she’s clearly deeply ashamed of, and she needs to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I still accept her. And thankfully, I think the message got through.

There’s precious little else to warm the rest of the journey, though. I’m not even sure how much time passed before another train station came into view. We’re all eager for something to break the monotony, so when Monika points to the station, we all follow her in without a second thought. It’ll be nice to be in the shade for a while, if nothing else.

I think my body’s getting used to the constant footslogging, because by the time we reach the station, I don’t feel the need to pass out on the nearest bench anymore. I’m even feeling well enough to poke around the place.

There’s not much to report, in all honesty. It’s an empty train station. I toyed with the idea of trying to get coins out of the ticket machine, but what the hell am I going to do with those? Does anyone still accept legal tender?

Why not take a look around the cafe? I find that they’ve still got a few curry donuts behind the counter. Score! I eat one, then another. Then my conscience finally manages to overpower my appetite. The others would like a little pick-me-up too, right?

I wave everyone over to the cafe. Monika, Sayori and Yuri come over to see what I’m so excited about. When I show them the four remaining curry donuts, their eyes immediately light up. There’s something nice about seeing everyone’s mood lightening as they scarf down this little culinary reprieve. Today has sucked some serious ass, so it’s nice to see everyone smile for once.

“So, who gets dibs on the last one?” Monika asks. The four of us look at each other to see who’ll lay the claim. Of course, Sayori is the first one to speak up.

“Shouldn’t we save it for Natsuki?” She asks. And here I thought she was just going to chow down. I should have figured she’d be thinking about someone else.

“Where is she anyway?” I add. None of us have kept an eye on her since we made it to this station.

Her shout from the men’s bathroom answers our question for us. “Holy shit, look who we have here!”

Smelling danger, the four of us bolt to the bathroom to back her up. We squeeze through the door to find Natsuki with her revolver trained on a shambler. He’s locked eyes with Natsuki, but he’s yet to make a move.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for a chance like this?” Natsuki says. Part of me wants to ask “Who the hell is that?”, but I don’t think Natsuki has noticed us yet.

“All those years, all those shouting matches, all those times you bitched at me for my hobbies, and all those nights going hungry because you were too busy moping to cook!” Natsuki continues. I’m still not sure what’s going on, but the context clues are mounting.

“Seriously. What kind of useless dad has the brass BALLS to criticize a daughter he can’t even consistently feed?”

Oh.  _ Oh. _ I’d better keep my mouth shut.

“You always said I’d be dependant on you forever. Yeah? Well, guess what motherfucker! I’m surviving, and you’ve already died. Now all that’s left is to put you out of your misery!”

Natsuki puts a round through her father’s infected head. I watch as his blood hits the wall and his lifeless body hits the ground.

But I don’t see any satisfaction on Natsuki’s face. Reflected in the bathroom mirrors, I watch Natsuki’s face go from wondering where the vindication she thought she’d feel was, to horrific realisation at what she’d just done, to out and out tearful agony.

Her revolver clatters to the floor. Just a second later Natsuki falls to her knees. I can just about hear her choke out “Papa… I’m sorry, papa…”

All the resentment I was feeling from earlier is out the window now. Now I know why she was so upset about food. So upset about Monika’s harsh tone and orders. And for all I know, she’s just put down the only family she still had. She’d never mentioned her mother, or siblings, or any other blood relatives. How utterly alone must she be feeling right now?

I want nothing more than to comfort her somehow, but there’s no way she’d accept sympathy from “loverboy”. I suppose it’s a good thing Sayori’s stepping in, then.

Sayori joins Natsuki on the floor, pulling her into a hug from the side. Natsuki keeps on sobbing, but she leans into Sayori’s embrace.

Monika’s the next one to speak. “Oh my god… Natsuki, I’m so sorry. I didn’t-”

“Fuck off…” Natsuki chokes out.

Monika stops herself from trying to push the issue and sighs. “Alright, I’ll back off. You’re absolutely right to be angry with me, Natsuki.”

Natsuki turns her reddened eyes towards Monika; in disbelief at what she’d just heard.

“I knew your dad was strict, but I didn’t realize it was....” Monika continues.

“Y-You saw what just…” Natsuki tries to form a full thought.

“We all did.” Yuri answers.

“God dammit all…” Is Natsuki’s only response. Sayori just hugs her tighter.

I hesitate a moment, but find it in me to ask. “Was he the last family member you had?”

Natsuki nods. “I thought I was used to going it alone. Th’fuck did  _ I _ know about being alone before today?”

“I don’t know, but you’re still not alone.” Sayori whispers, right by Natsuki’s ear. “We’re all right here.

That sets Natsuki’s tears off all over again.

Monika gets on one knee and offers Natsuki a hand up. “Come on. Let’s go lay him to rest.”

We pull a promotional banner down from this station’s atrium and lay Natsuki’s father atop it. Then the four of us grab a corner and carry his remains with us. All but Natsuki. She’s already carrying the weight of shooting him, after all. And someone needs their hands free to respond to any threats.

And so we continue however many miles it takes. None of us uttering even a single word of complaint or grunt of exertion until the railroad tracks return to ground level.

“Right there.” Natsuki points to a bush by the side of the railroad tracks. Once we’ve laid his body down, Natsuki pulls out her Lobo and begins to dig her father a grave. Right in the green between the rails and the fence that separates them from the road. Even then, she doesn’t dig alone. Monika and I occasionally soften the ground for her using our bayonets. Sayori takes over digging for her once in a while. Yuri stands guard over us all; quickly felling any infected that make an approach.

None of us care to track the time, but right as the sun begins to fall behind the mountains to our west, Monika holds up a hand.   


“There. That should be about six feet.” She says.

With a silent nod, Natsuki sits by her father’s side.

“Hey there dad…” She begins. “Never thought it’d end like this, huh?”

She hesitates a moment before carrying on. “I’m… sorry for being such a difficult daughter. I always thought you were just a mopey old… y’know. But now? Now I realize just how much loss fuckin’  _ hurts _ … Is this what you felt when we lost mom?”

I see the beginnings of tears in Monika’s eyes. I feel them trying to break through too.

“If this is how you were feeling, then… You really  _ were _ just doing the best you could with what you had, weren’t you?”

Sayori’s doing a good job holding herself together, all things considered.

“I wish I could do better for you, especially since this is the end and all. But… Shit.” Natsuki takes a moment to pull herself back together.  At some point, Yuri and I find ourselves joining hands.

Natsuki puts her forehead against what’s left of her father’s. “When this is all over, I’ll come back for you. Okay? See about getting you a real grave.”

With that, Natsuki puts a hand to the side of her head and works one of her ribbons out of her hair. Then she closes her father’s hand over it. “Here. You always liked these. So… you can remember me by it, okay?”

Sayori speaks up. “But Natsuki, now your hair is...”

“I’ve lost a lot today. At this point I don’t really care about losing symmetry too.” Natsuki replies, pulling her head back up.

For a while, Natsuki sits in silence; just trying to make the last look she would ever get at her father last as long as possible. None of us say a word until she speaks again to tell us that she’s ready.

At her signal, the four of us take the banner we’d carried her father on, wrap it over his body as best we can, and gently lower him into his impromptu grave. As we all pitch in to refill the grave, I find myself wondering how many other infected wound up getting this treatment. How many people wanted to do this for their dead, but couldn’t find a place? Or just didn’t have time? Or themselves turned before they could?

And just where the hell did this outbreak come from anyway? I heard absolutely nothing about it until that first day in class. How did it spread so quickly, so unnoticed? I’d just assume this was all a nightmare, but it’s lasted far too long. The pain has been far too real. And the exchanges I’ve had with the rest of the literature club have been far too vivid.

But as twisted as it might be to say, there are some parts of this that I really do hope are for real. Even if it’s for the sake of survival, I’ve never felt a sense of shared purpose as strong as I do now. Nor have I felt a bond quite as strong as  what I’m starting to feel with Yuri . That much, I truly hope is for real.   


Once the dirt has been packed down, Monika addresses us all again. “Okay everyone. Let’s shelter at the next station. It’s as far as we’ll get before nightfall.”

Natsuki is the last of us to leave the grave site, and even as she walks away, she keeps glancing at where her father had been laid to rest.

Once we’ve all returned to our full pace, Monika hands Natsuki that curry donut we’d saved for her.

“Sorry I’ve been pushing you so hard.” She says.

“It’s the apocalypse and you’ve got to keep us moving.” Natsuki takes a bite out of the donut. “I get that.”

“Even then, that’s no reason to insult you guys like I have been.” Monika says, addressing all of us now. “If I keep thinking like that, it’s going to leak into my decisions. And  _ that _ could lead to… Well, something I’d never want to happen.”

“Leading is hard, Monika.” Sayori says. “Just acknowledging that you can do better tells me that you’re going to do a great job.”

“Ahaha… that really does mean a lot. Thank you, Sayori.” Monika says, looking out over the distant mountainscape. “We really are in this for the long haul, aren’t we? Let’s unload all our unspoken here. Lighten our packs for the road ahead.”

There are some quiet nods of agreement, but nobody volunteers to start.   


Until Sayori speaks up. “MC? Yuri? Don’t you have something to say to one another?”

The both of us sputter in surprise at being called out. Yeah, there’s certainly something I want to say to Yuri, and I hope Yuri wants to say it to me. But can we really just out and say it?

The two of us take awkward steps towards one another. Her eyes are locked with mine. Oh my god this is really happening!

We come face to face, I brush her hair aside, and our faces begin to inch closer to one another.

Our eyes close, our lips meet. They always said that you were supposed to feel “fireworks” when you kissed the right person for you. And now I finally get what they mean by that.

I want to pause time and live in this moment forever. Forget all of this zombie apocalypse business and just spend the rest of my life with my lips against hers. But I just can’t do that, can I?

Reluctantly, Yuri and I pull away from one another. With a lingering gaze into each other’s eyes, we turn to see the other three.

Monika gives us a smile and a thumbs up. Sayori’s got this bittersweet smile on her face. I was expecting Natsuki to be making some kind of gagging gesture, or to pointedly look away, but her only response is an emotionless “About time…”

“So, this doesn't bother you anymore?” I ask. I worry about sounding like I’m looking for permission to smooch  Yuri in front of her whenever I want, but I really do want to know what she’s thinking.

“Just… try not to make me look at it. Okay?” Natsuki says. Followed by some muttering.

“Got something to say?” Monika asks, but with her pointed tone, that’s obviously not just a suggestion.

It takes a little grumbling, but Natsuki lets it out. “It reminds me of what I never had. There, I said it.”

In one sentence, Natsuki made me completely understand what her issue with us was.

“I… Not even dad and I were ever close, and the times I tried opening up got me hurt.” Natsuki added, still devoid of emotion. Is she just out of emotional energy? I’d be in her position.

Sayori matches Natsuki’s stride and starts to gently rub her shoulder. “It’s okay. We won’t do that to you.”

“And how do I know that?” Natsuki asks, not visibly comforted by Sayori’s gesture.

“To put it in rather, well... cynical terms, harming you would be detrimental to our own survival. Would it not?” Yuri says.

“Shit… Guess that’ll have to do.” Natsuki says.

“Anyone else need to get something off their chest?” Monika asks.

“I’m fine...” Sayori says, sneaking a few glances at  Yuri and I.

“I ask only that everyone direct their anger at its actual source.” Yuri says.

“Right… Sorry again about that.” Monika says.

I respond with a noncommittal shrug.

“Then that’s everyone.” Monika says. “If any new ones pop up, talk it out as soon as you can. Because from here on out, we’re a  _ team _ .”

Everyone seems pretty pleased with that idea. Even Natsuki manages to crack a faint smile, drained as she is.

And so the four of us walk on until we reach the next station. All the while, the rest of the literature club starts to talk like a group of friends again. Natsuki remains fairly quiet, but she’s holding her head just a little bit higher now.

I also keep quiet, since I keep on thinking about Monika’s declaration. A team, huh? We already saw little shades of that before now. When we rescued Sayori from her own paralysis, I felt it. There was this brief spark of unity. This sense that we were all parts of one well-oiled machine.

Now that I have a moment to contemplate it, I realize just how amazing that felt. After spending so much time on my own, I didn’t even realize that this feeling existed. Is this what keeps athletes playing their chosen sport?

I may have something truly special with  Yuri , but now I truly appreciate what the rest of us have between each other. Is there a word for it? “Friends” is one thing, but I have a feeling that it’s going to grow deeper than that. ”Squad” doesn’t really feel right either. None of us are shouting about echo deltas at four-niner-niner clicks northeast.

Or maybe, it doesn’t need a name. The important thing is that we’re going to make it through this. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took longer to finish than I'd like. The Natsuki version on it's own took a month because A. It had to be so significantly different from every other version, and B. because I didn't think to outline the changes I'd make before I tried to write them. But at the end of the day, I'm really happy with how it turned out.
> 
> On the plus side, the trailer for the mod version of this fanfic is now available for viewing on another team member, AstraNova's channel!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO_4eThQyec


End file.
